Robert DeCourcy Ward Quotes
For a round hundred years it was a national ideal that the United States should be the asylum for the poor and the oppressed of every land. This very early came to be known as the "traditional" American attitude towards immigration.
Most immigration reformers want to open immigration more widely. Ward wanted immigration restricted to certain ethnicities and limited.
Robert DeCourcy Ward, 1867–1931, Scientist & Immigration Reformer, “Our New Immigration Policy”, Foreign Affairs, September 1923
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
At the time immigrants had to live in America 14 years before they were eligible for citizenship. The President urged a reduction in that waiting period which is what was done. This was one of the earliest statements of America as a haven to the oppressed of the world. Note that despite occasional squabbles over land use and theft, the general assessment of the President and the public was that the Indians although not as civilized had welcomed the whites with “hospitality.” The next years would produce the conflict for land and begin the massive usurpation of Indian land that would characterize American policy and practice until the latter half of the 20th century, buy which time there was little Indian land left.
Congress was debating the Naturalization Act of 1790. Page and many others (see {616324}) argued that there should be no qualification requirements on immigrants as every person coming to America added to the strength of the nation. Congress reached a compromise between those who favored unlimited naturalization and citizenship and those who wanted heavy restrictions. It required a 2 year residence, a certification of good character and an oath, modest by modern standards.
A number of Americans had asked for and were granted political asylum. Many were left-wing dissidents, but a number were Southern Black Civil Rights workers who had been framed with trumped up charges by racist states and communities.
Robert DeCourcy Ward was an American climatologist, author, educator and leading eugenics and immigration reform advocate in the early 20th Century. He became the first ever professor of climatology in the United States and made contributions to the study of the climate. His advocacy for immigration reform and eugenics led him to co-found the Immigration Restriction League which was instrumental in the passage of the Immigration Act of 1924 which reduced Jewish and Italian immigration to the U.S. by over 95% and completely barred Asian immigration until 1952.
